Lara Morrison Email & Phone Number

Cape Town, South Africa

HR Business Partner for the Investment, Finance, Marketing, Assurance, Namibia, Botswana, People Operations, and Facilities team. In addition to the role, I am responsible for the Talent Management portfolio enterprise-wide and recruitment of graduates into some key programmes. Prior to taking on this role, I consulted to Allan Gray from July 2018, reporting into the COO, assisting with strategic recruitment.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

HR consultant across the full employee lifecycle. Clients I have worked with include Woolworths, VM Central, The Foschini Group, Mr Price, Sneaker LAB, Union Swiss, Pearson South African and Africa, Yoco, the Sun Exchange, VW (SA), and since July 2018, Allan Gray. A few assignments have also been completed for the Allan and Gill Gray Philanthrophy foundation services since 2020 in Bermuda, the Channel Islands and Cape Town.

Cape Town, South Africa

I headed up Talent which covered the full employee life cycle, working closely with the South African leadership team, my HR Business Partner colleagues and global Talent team colleagues to deliver the business and people strategy. The role also covered Pearson Education Africa, the University business (CTI and the Pearson Institute) and the Pearson Marang Trust. The business has transformed from a publishing business to an education business, and from print to digital. My team and I were responsible for all recruitment, learning and development and talent management across the business nationally. This entailed the design and implementation of accredited learning programmes, blended learning, customising of global programmes to meet local requirements, ensuring there is a talent 'bench' for key roles, a talent pipeline internally and through internships, playing an active role with BBBEE and facilitating talent days and performance management implementation throughout the business. StrengthsFinder and Culture workshops facilitated with senior leadership and their teams across the business. Some team achievements: 19.1/20 for Skills Development for PSA, the successful implementation of the recruitment tool Taleo and leading a global project with team members in the US, India and the UK.I also worked closely with the global Talent Acquisition team and global Learning and Development team representing the Growth market in a co-ordination role. We used and optimised virtual communication tools to meet and work, and and I worked daily on Taleo, Fusion, Saba and Google MyCloud. There are approximately 1500 employees at Pearson SA.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

HR consultant to small and medium sized businesses offering the following expertise: Talent strategy and implementation from sourcing to retention, organisational and learning and development design and implementation, change management and IR advice on all employee relations issues up to arbitration. Clients varied from start ups to corporate local and global businesses which included Union Swiss, Evolabs, PM Hair systems, Associated Magazines, 5One (now Mastercard), Skinny LaMinx and Pearson South Africa, looking after Talent Management, and on an ad hoc basis, I assisted a few smaller businesses with employee relations and recruitment through to putting in HR processes and setting up an HR function for them.

Long Street, Cape Town

Artisan coffee and good food on the go. Started as a kiosk at the V&A and became a shop in Long Street. Responsible for concept, branding and the operational side of the business.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Overseeing the employee life cycle from sourcing to retention. Talent Scout for Union Swiss and Evolabs from August 2011 until March 2014.

Over nine years at Woolworths spanning stores, a national role overseeing Talent for stores, real estate, franchise and retail operations, clothing and central learning and development. HRBP in Clothing, Central Planning and a cluster of stores in the Western Cape region. Involvement in some notable projects in this time: Woolworths coffee shops, opening of stand alone food stores, cold chain, flexi-timers, time and attendance, many Talent initiatives including the set up of the Merchant Academy. I left in 2002 for approximately 9 months to work and travel in London and worked as an HR Manager for a non-profit, Stonham Housing Association before returning to Woolworths.

Set up and ran the HR function and looked after Marketing.

Coaching (6 Months) Gsb, Executive Coaching

Coaching 6 month course at the GSB

Pdm(Hr), Human Resources

Activities and Societies: Internship at Deloitte. Post-graduate diploma (HR) at WITS Business School

Ba, Political Science, English

BA (English and Political Science)